Cannot rest in her grave.
Restless spirit of poor seamstress.
Weird noises which disturb villagers.
For nearly a year the Portuguese village of Vila Franca de Zira and the country round has been much disturbed by a curious phenomenon, a sound exactly like that produced by a sewing machine having been heard coming from the strangest and most unexpected places – a saucepan on the fire, a box, or a bedstead. The fact that the noise is heard is beyond dispute, but so far all investigations as to the cause have proved fruitless. The principal newspapers of Lisbon have sent members of their staffs to the places where the noise has been heard, but they have discovered nothing.
One of these representatives actually heard the noise coming from a picture frame. He removed it from the wall – it was a coloured lithograph of some popular Saint – took it to pieces, and from the glass, which he held in his hand, the sound issued steadily.
As to what is the cause of this strange sound the peasants tell a romantic story. A poor seamstress of Vila Franca de Zira fell ill and died. Just before the end she asked her friends to sell the only valuable article she possessed, her sewing machine, and buy masses for the repose of her soul. They promised but did not keep their word, so now the poor seamstress cannot rest in her grave, but wanders from place to place working her ghostly machine.
She was first heard in Vila Franca, but many other towns and villages claim this distinction. She is of a restless nature, and will spend a few days here and a few days there, never more than two or three in the same place, though she often chooses several houses for her manifestations.
The peasants, in their childish ignorance, have invented a ghost, but people of education are asking themselves if the noise can be caused by some vibration, Marconi wave, or similar force. For nearly a year the “seamstress” has been working, at intervals, and two days ago she was reported to be actively sewing away in a little village not far from Vila Franca.
Thomson’s Weekly News, 16th July 1921.